Alabama ? Three former college students pleaded guilty Wednesday in Birmingham to federal arson charges for burning nine churches in a series of blazes that alarmed rural congregations across Alabama.

Matthew Cloyd, Benjamin Nathan Moseley and Russell Lee DeBusk entered the guilty pleas to federal arson and conspiracy charges in the string of church fires set on two nights in February.

Cloyd, 21, and Moseley, 20, had a plea agreement with federal prosecutors that called for them to recommend a sentence of up to eight years and one month, but not less than seven years.

DeBusk, 20, did not have an agreement on a sentence with his plea but decided to plead guilty “to help those congregations and others hurt by his behavior continue to heal,” defense attorney Brett Bloomston said. A prosecutor said he expects DeBusk to get a shorter sentence because he participated in only five fires.

The three are also charged with state crimes in Bibb, Pickens, Greene and Sumter counties, including arson, burglary, criminal mischief and cruelty to animals for killing a cow. Defense attorneys have been discussing a similar plea deal with county prosecutors, but none has been reached.